Interesting Deutero-Antagonist Concept - The Gladiators

Games Halo Infinite
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1

The Banished take in all species, and it is known that there are humans among their ranks here and there.

But what about… rogue Spartans?

Picture this. You are a Spartan Fireteam captured by The Banished fresh after the UNSC Infinity fell.
Atriox is boasting his victory, showing proof that he threw The Master Chief into the void of Space.
Your team was given a private audience with Atriox and Escharum.
They offer you a choice with two options -
A - You can join The Banished as valued soldiers.
B - You will be thrown into an arena and face insurmountable odds, dying in the heat of battle.

One by one your team is whittled down.
But now there are only three of you left.
You three Spartans made a hard choice.
Broken of hope as Humanity’s Savior is thought to be dead.
You chose to join The Banished.
No longer are you Spartans.
You
Are
Gladiators

Imagine that among the ranks of The Banished team of Spartan Killers, there are three Gladiators.
And upon witnessing the return of The Master Chief, there is a schism.

One Gladiator works as a double-agent, providing intel and support from the shadows for The Master Chief. The Banished of course view him/her as a traitor and targets them in the latter portions of the story arc.

One Gladiator thinks they are beyond redemption and seek to have themselves killed by The Master Chief instead of face the consequences of their actions. However after their boss fight, The Master Chief choses to spare them and have them detained. Penance instead of death.

The Last Gladiator is someone who revels in violence and has been forever changed. He/She felt betrayed by Humanity, lied to time and time again. The Master Chief was beaten by Atriox, so he is not impervious. He/She would insist on dying on the battlefield rather than going back to being a Spartan.

This could lead to some interesting fights and encounters where The Gladiators are just Spartans that are on-par with The Master Chief in terms of utility and tactics.

And as a bonus, the multiplayer gets a new Armor Core added to the game.

GLADIATOR
A hybrid of MJOLNIR and Banished engineering.

Whaddya guys think?

Compelling narrative?
CHECK !
Interesting boss-battles where they share the same equipment as MCPO John-S117?
CHECK !!
New Armor Customization options and a new platform?
CHECK !!!

2

that sounds more cheesy than a late 90’s- early 00’s bond movie

3

Could be interesting if written properly, absolutely.

1 Like
4

Sounds realistic to me.

The Banished, Atriox especially, understand the value of The Spartans and their MJOLNIR armor. Atriox likes to obtain anything useful and twist it to his advantage.

Three Spartans who have had their morale broken and given the choice of an endless battle to the death and a second chance at a life… some would choose life.

It would also explain why The Spartan Killers are so good at their job (until The Master Chief came back), they have been training with actual ex-Spartans to learn tactics and weaknesses.

And then when MCPO John-S117 returns from the grave, these three react differently. One has his hope return and seeks to help The Master Chief as best as they can. Another feels ashamed and unworthy, so requests death but John spares them instead. The final one is too far gone off the deep end and needs to be eliminated as bringing them back to the UNSC is not a viable option.

If well written enough, this could be a great narrative and a nice sub-plot to add some flavor to Halo Infinite’s story in either Part 2, Part 3, a DLC campaign bonus, OR as a novel that takes place between the campaign parts.
Plus it would be nice to have an armor set that isn’t standard MJOLNIR that is also not a Fractures set.